Worthy
by Ania Tessa
Summary: After not hearing anything from Ash for over a year, MaryLynette moves away to college and resigns herself to the fact that it's best to forget about him. But when she gets an unsuspected phonecall their two lives become entangled once again.


Disclaimer: - The Night World and the characters Mary-Lynette Carter and Ash Redfern belong to the wonderful LJ Smith. This story and any original characters belong to me.

Chapter One – The Night Has A Thousand Eyes

"Would you quit hogging that thing and let me see! God, that's what I hate about you Mary-Lynette – it's always me, me, me!"

Mary-Lynette looked over at Drew and laughed. She knew he wasn't serious. That's what she liked about him – he was never serious. He was the only person who could make her laugh, even when she was in a rotten mood.

"It's all yours," she said with a smile, gesturing to the telescope. "Thank you for your patience."

"Finally," Drew said with fake exasperation, giving her a playful dig in the side and scooting over to take a look through the eyepiece. "Wow," he breathed after a few seconds of silence.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" Mary-Lynette asked, settling back against the grass and staring up at the star filled night. As she did so, a small knot of sadness rose in her chest. Once there was a time when she could look up at the sky and the only thing she felt was awe. But that was before. Before her life changed forever. Before she had met _him_.

Thinking of Ash was always bittersweet for Mary-Lynette, and looking up into the darkness she couldn't help but wonder – as she always did – if Ash was looking up at the same sky and thinking of her. She hoped he was.

The knot of sadness grew. She hadn't heard from him in over a year, not since he'd made his promise to her. It had seemed so genuine at the time, so real. But with everyday that passed without hearing from him, Mary-Lynette prepared herself for what she now believed was the inevitable. Ash wasn't coming back.

There was a song Claudine liked by some small band that had come to town not long after Ash had left. There was one song that she always sang in particular as she pottered around the house. The words had etched themselves into Mary-Lynette's consciousness, indelibly…

"_A sweet and solemn promise, packaged with a smile_

_A heartfelt understanding, that makes the pain worthwhile_

_A bouquet of hopes and dreams, of all that lies ahead_

_An emptiness inside, you gave to me instead"_

Lately she couldn't think about Ash without thinking about that song too. She hummed it to herself quietly as she lay still on the grass, breathing in the scent of the cool October night.

"What song is that?" Drew asked distractedly, still squinting into the eyepiece.

"Oh, it's just some silly thing my stepmother likes," Mary-Lynette replied. "You wouldn't know it."

"Sounds kind of pretty," Drew laughed. "Makes me want to sweep you up in my arms and waltz until sunrise. Such is the mesmerising power of your melodious humming."

_Typical Drew_, Mary-Lynette thought with a wry smile to herself. _Always making a joke out of everything. _She laughed along with him anyway, even though the thoughts running through her head made her want to do anything but smile.

"Well, I'm over it," Drew said suddenly, pulling back from the telescope. "Mr and Mrs Cloud and their kids have decided to come out to play, ruining our fun in the process."

Mary-Lynette nodded up at the milky white forms drifting across the inky sky. "Looks like it."

"Well the night is still young," Drew said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "Maybe we can still go dancing after all."

"I'll pass," Mary-Lynette giggled. "I will, however, allow you to escort me to the nearest fast food establishment. I'm starving!"

The two of them set about packing up all of their equipment and quickly carried it back to Drew's car. Mary-Lynette felt truly lucky to have met a person as great as Drew so soon after her big move away to college. It had been a hard transition, leaving Mark behind, saying goodbye to Rowan, Kestrel and Jade, knowing that Ash's lack of contact was not a great indication of what was to become of their relationship.

The night before she'd left, Mary-Lynette was convinced that she would spend the entire first week trying not to mope. Starting college seemed like such a big step away from everything she and Ash had, or _thought _they'd had. Who really knew if any of that was true, anyway? It had been such a long time, Mary-Lynette couldn't be sure anymore.

Once they were in the car, they decided to stop off for pizza on their way back to the dorm. Drew's roommate, Cody, had hired a ton of DVD's and was planning a long, late night in front of his plasma screen with extra seats reserved especially for Drew, Mary-Lynette and a few others. Mary-Lynette rang in the order on the phone her father had bought for her as a going away present and by the time they arrived at Trixie's Pizza Palace, it was ready to be collected.

Back in the car, Mary-Lynette sat laughing with the hot pizza box warming her knees as she listened to Drew's story about the time he and his brother tried to go into business manufacturing round pizza boxes.

"We thought it was the best idea ever," Drew sighed. "Shows what idiots we were."

"At least you tried," Mary-Lynette giggled.

Drew began to answer, but stopped abruptly as the blinding glare of headlights on full beam flashed in the rear view mirror. He and Mary-Lynette winced at the brightness.

"What the --? Who the hell is that?"

Mary-Lynette shaded her eyes and shrugged. "I don't know, some jerk."

"That's a given," Drew replied, squinting against the blinding glare of lights. "Look at that, he's right up my ass! What does this clown think he's trying to do?"

Drew quickly rolled his window down and stuck out his hand, firing off a series of uncouth gestures which were accompanied by an equally uncouth selection of choice words.

The car behind them came closer.

"Let's just turn off at the next exit," Mary-Lynette told him quickly. "Or pull over or something. We should let them pass."

With a sigh, Drew nodded. He pulled the car up at the side of the road and watched as the other car drove on. "What was their problem?" Drew asked with a perplexed frown.

"Don't know, don't care," Mary-Lynette replied. "Can we just get out of here? Cody's probably wondering where we are."

"Your wish is my command," Drew smiled, quickly shaking off the irritation he'd just experienced.

Mary-Lynette smiled and relaxed back in her seat. They drove in comfortable silence for a moment or so, until Mary-Lynette's phone began ringing.

"That'll be my Dad," Mary-Lynette laughed, reaching into her pocket. "Not a night goes by when he doesn't call to check up on me."

"And you thought that phone was just a thoughtful gift," Drew smirked. "Little did you know it was actually a handy tracking device."

Mary-Lynette looked down at the display screen, but instead of seeing her Dad's name flashing, it was Marks. Immediately she answered.

"Mark, hi!"

Mark murmured on the other end of the phone before replying. "Hi Mare. It's um.. it's me."

"Yeah, I know," Mary-Lynette laughed. "Caller ID, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Mark replied quietly.

Mary-Lynette could tell by the flat hush of his voice that something was wrong, and assumed that he'd had an argument with Jade or something. They'd been having some problems just before Mary-Lynette had left. _Poor Mark,_ she thought.

"So how are things?" she asked, trying to remain cheery.

"Not good, Mare," he replied. "Not good at all. That's why I called."

"Is it Jade?" Mary-Lynette ventured tentatively.

Drew looked over and raised his eyebrows at Mary-Lynette, to which she responded by covering the mouth piece and mouthing the words 'girlfriend trouble.'

Drew raised his eyebrows and nodded sagely, before turning his attention back to the road. Mark was still silent on the other end of the phone.

"Mark? Are you okay?" Mary-Lynette asked.

"It's not Jade, Mare," he said sadly. "It's Ash."

Mary-Lynette's breath stopped for a moment.

"It's Ash," Mark repeated. "Mare… something's happened to him."

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